A large, aging, urban population has created a demand for various mobility aiding devices, such as wheelchairs, walkers, transport chairs, shower seats and rollators, which facilitate actions and movements in their daily lives without requiring additional assistance, to ensure a certain degree of independence. Walkers, transport chairs, shower seats and rollators (walkers with wheels) have become more popular than wheelchairs, crutches or canes as mobility aids for people with sore legs, hips or backs, because of their added structural support and their versatility. Present day rollators, such as the one disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 2002/0079663 filed Jul. 18, 2001 in the name of Hallgrimsson et al, come complete with brakes, a seat and a storage basket. Another feature highly sought after in mobility aids is their ability to fold up into a storage position for travel or simply to save space when not in use. Conventional wheel chairs have long since disclosed the ability to fold two sides of a frame into a storage position; however these devices have always had a flexible or hammock seat. Hard platforms are now desired to provide more comfortable seating and a useable supporting surface for other items. Complicated, one piece seats have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,371,183; 4,493,488; and 5,605,345. Unfortunately, these devices require a great deal of manual dexterity and strength to open and close. Accordingly, two-piece seats have been developed, such as the ones disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,432 issued Sep. 13, 1988 in the name of Kenneth Wagner; U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,222 issued Sep. 14, 1993 to Robert Benoit; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,475 issued Oct. 24, 2000 to Richard Brown et al. These devices either require extra support panels that must be accessed from below the seat, as in the Wagner device, or rely on an extra wide abutting surfaces between the pivoting seat panels, as in the Benoit and Brown et al devices. Unfortunately, the extra wide abutting surfaces do not always provide sufficient strength for long term use. Moreover, the abutting surfaces can pinch body parts or items therebetween causing damage or pain.
An object of the present invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art by providing a mobility aid, such as a wheelchair, transport chair, walker, shower seat or rollator, with a solid seating platform made up or two pivotally connected sections, with structural reinforcements, that fold up easily into a storage position.